


The Apple Tree

by FelicityGS



Series: Poetry Verse [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aging, Coping, Gardens & Gardening, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 22:31:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2484668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FelicityGS/pseuds/FelicityGS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I don't like the hollyhocks. I want an apple tree."</p>
<p>"What about the freesias? You always complain about the freesias. You could put the tree there and leave the hollyhocks alone." Steve says, trying to reason with Loki, because he knows how Loki is and the hollyhocks are dead center of the garden right now. Steve hasn't seen that spot stay untouched more than three or four weeks since they moved in years ago, and putting a tree there just seems a recipe for disappointment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Apple Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Last one for now. 
> 
> Takes place roughly a year after "Off Beats"

"I'm going to put an apple tree in the garden."

Steve doesn't even look away from what he's cooking at first; statements of what's being put in the garden are frequent enough that he almost tunes them out these days. (Not like at first, when he had mistakenly assumed the point of putting flowers in the garden was to leave them there and admire them.)

Then he realizes what Loki said.

"Wait, an apple tree?"

Loki leans against the counter by Steve, nibbling at one of the mushroom dumplings that are  _meant_  to be for dinner.

"Yes."

"Are you sure about that? I mean, it's a tree. You can't just pick it up and move it around."

"Yes. It would be nice to sit underneath it in the summer. And we can have apples in autumn instead of going to the orchard."

"I  _like_  going to the orchard."

Loki shrugs.

Steve wonders briefly how large an apple tree Loki is thinking of, glancing over his shoulder to look through the back window to the garden.

"You're going to spoil your dinner," he says as Loki reaches for another of the dumplings, but he's not particularly invested in stopping him either. Neither of them say anything else, Loki examining the garden, Steve finishing sauteing the brussel sprouts and thinking.

It's not that he's surprised; Loki is constantly moving things around and getting rid of plants that he doesn't like or that don't meet his whims. And it's not like trees can't fit in the garden--the single spruce says as much. This all just seems a bit sudden.

"Where would you put it?" Steve asks as he takes the sprouts off the heat and puts them into a bowl waiting on the counter.

"Where the hollyhocks are."

"I thought you liked the hollyhocks. You told me just last week you thought they were a nice addition."

"I changed my mind." Loki gives Steve a fond look; Steve just sighs.

" _I_  like the hollyhocks."

"You have the roses," Loki says, reasonable, as if Steve is only allowed to enjoy one flower in the garden.

"The hollyhocks are in the middle, you can't just pick up a tree and move it because you don't like it there."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a  _tree_ , and  _I'm_  not moving it every time you decide you want it somewhere else."

They look at each other, Loki filching a still hot sprout from the bowl in Steve's hands.

"Yes you would," Loki says, then pops the sprout into his mouth. He makes a face as he burns his tongue, nose wrinkling slightly.

"Those are hot. And no I wouldn't. Are you  _sure_  you want it where the hollyhocks are? They look nice there."

"I don't like the hollyhocks. I want an apple tree."

"What about the freesias? You always complain about the freesias. You could put the tree there and leave the hollyhocks alone." Steve says, trying to reason with Loki, because he knows how Loki is and the hollyhocks are dead center of the garden right now. Steve hasn't seen that spot stay untouched more than three or four weeks since they moved in years ago, and putting a tree there just seems a recipe for disappointment.

"I'm not getting rid of the freesias."

"Why not? You complain about them every year."

"I'm not getting rid of the freesias," Loki repeats, crossing his arms and looking slightly annoyed. Steve kisses the tip of his nose, knowing how much it exasperates Loki and how very fond he is of the gesture anyway.

"Okay. Don't get rid of the freesias. Just hold off on the tree for a bit."

"Fine," Loki says with an eye roll, but Steve catches glimpse of a repressed smile. He leans in and kisses the corner of Loki's mouth before starting to move things to the table.

XXXXXX

"How big an apple tree is he talking, anyway?"

"He wants to sit under it sometimes."

"That's a pretty big apple tree."

"I was thinking we'd get a sapling and let it grow."

Clint glances at Steve sideways--something cautious blended with something else (compassion or pity, maybe, or both).

"What?" Steve asks.

"Trees don't exactly grow fast, Cap."

Steve blinks.

"Well, no. Not usually," Steve says cautiously.

"You guys might wanna see if a nursery has an older one, is all. They usually do."

"What does it matter? They grow either way."

"I'm just... He's not exactly getting younger. None of us are, except maybe Tony but who knows considering the shit he puts in his body. If he wants to sit under it, doesn't hurt to speed things along."

Steve frowns at Clint; Clint holds his hands up defensively.

"It's not  _bad_. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you might want to look into starting bigger than sapling. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe apple trees grow faster. I'm not exactly well-versed in plants," Clint says.

"He's not that old."

"What, forty this year? Yeah, he's not that old. Looks better than I did at that age." Clint shoves his hands in his slacks, slipping his sunglasses back down over his face as they walk outside.

"You're only forty-six," Steve says, "and you looked fine. Still do."

"For forty. Look," Clint stops at the crosswalk, pushing his sunglasses back up, grey eyes piercing and clear as ever, "he's probably got decades to enjoy whatever apple tree you guys end up getting. I'm just saying you shouldn't forget that maybe he doesn't. Maybe  _you_  don't--I remember last year.

"He already told you he wanted it instead of you coming home to find an apple tree in the backyard, and when have you ever known him to do something like that without a reason?"

Steve doesn't say anything to do that, chewing on his lip. Clint pats him on the shoulder.

"Just saying, maybe he remembers last year, too, and this is something he was putting off because there's always next year and you always come home."

"Maybe," Steve hedges, even if it does sound like something Loki would want; they've always talked idly back and forth about growing blackberries or strawberries because there's something Steve likes about being able to give friends a gift he made himself.

"Think about it." The sunglasses slide back down. "Now, I've got some new recruits to go terrify."

Steve laughs.

"Don't be too rough."

Clint only grins.

XXXXXX

"How long will you be gone for?"

"A month." Loki doesn't look away from where he is examining ties to take with him.  "You could come see a few performances, you know."

"I might," Steve says as he watches from the bed, sketchpad in lap. "Take the green one."

Loki casts an amused glance over his shoulder.

"With the silver details," Steve adds, smiling.

"I might," Loki says but Steve notes the tie in question is draped over his arm while he keeps sorting--mimicking Steve, because they both know Steve will arrive to see at least one of the performances while he's in Europe.

Steve goes back to sketching Loki while he packs, quick gestures that capture movement and line more than they do detail. Even so, he still keeps noticing details, details highlighted since his conversation with Clint, and he isn't sure how he feels. He doesn't remember there being so much silver in Loki's hair, doesn't remember the smile lines at his mouth or the crow's feet at his eyes. Forty, Steve thinks, is not so old, but then it doesn't  _feel_  that way to him, near twenty years since that first blind lunch date he stills remembers so vividly.

When he looks at Loki, he only ever sees Loki, some melding of memory and present into the man he loves--not age and mortality.

Of course, Loki has his own reminders of Steve's mortality, doesn’t he? Just last year at most recent and worst, and Steve can still remember the taste of the apple Thor had given him. He'd heard, in bits and pieces, of Loki's reaction, violent and angry and thinly veiled terror, remembers the barely held together composure when the doctors had let Loki in and the desperation in Loki's touch hen they were alone.

"What are you thinking, love?" Loki asks without looking over, ties decided upon and being placed in the suitcase. Loki always put the ties in last, Steve knows; moments later the suitcase clicks shut. Steve sets the sketchpad aside as Loki walks over to him, moving his legs so Loki can stand between them. There's a fond smile on Loki's lips as he settles his hands on Steve's shoulders, fingertips brushing the nape of his neck.

"Do you really not like the hollyhocks?"

A eyebrow quirks up, sly smirk touching those lips.

"Are you really so invested in them?" Loki asks.

"If you got an apple tree, are you sure you'd want to put it there? You always change that spot."

"You'd move it for me if I wanted you to."

Steve pauses; it's not an answer to the question and Loki knows it.

"Maybe," Steve says.

Loki's smirk widens.

"Bend the heavens for me, but moving a single tree is simply too much, is it?"

Steve grins in response, tugging Loki's face down to steal a kiss.

"Yes," Loki says, once he pulls back a little, "I am sure I want to put it where the hollyhocks are."

"I won't move it if you put it there," Steve warns him.

"Of course you will."

"I won't."

Loki only smirks, rolling his eyes as he straddles Steve's lap.

"You always say that," Loki says, hands slipping beneath the hem of Steve's shirt and running up his sides, pushing the shirt up as he goes. He runs his nose along Steve's throat, breath warm, and a shiver runs down Steve's spine. Steve moves a hand to the curve of Loki's back to pull him closer, tugging his chin up with the other to claim another kiss.

XXXXXX

Steve learns a great deal more about trees, dirt, and what exactly a hollyhock looks like than he thinks is strictly healthy while Loki is gone.

By the time he's done, in fact, he's not particularly fond of hollyhocks  _or_  apple trees.

All the same, he thinks, better to get it done now while they can both enjoy it.

XXXXXX

"I suppose," Loki says, face blank but eyes glimmering in amusement, "I shouldn't tell you that I think I'd prefer it opposite the spruce."

"I told you I won't move it," Steve says.

"Ah. Except you said you wouldn't if  _I_  put it there."

Steve stares at him, debating whether to strangle him or not. Loki smirks, clearly catching the thought.

"It looks much better than the hollyhocks," Loki offers, a low quaver of repressed laughter in his voice.

"I'm not moving it," Steve tells him. "Whatever I said before notwithstanding. If you want it opposite the spruce,  _you_  move it."

Loki does laugh then, warm and full, grabbing Steve by the waist and pulling him close. They kiss softly, slowly, and Steve sets his own hands on Loki's hips.

"Thank you," Loki says, eyes sparkling when he pulls away.


End file.
